Oct. 2, 2009
Final Stats
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Freshman outside hitter Allison Whitson landed 15 kills for a .361 hitting average to help UC Davis overcome an early setback in a 21-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-18 win over UC Riverside in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Student Recreation Center Friday evening.
The Aggies improve to 12-5 overall and remain unbeaten at 3-0 in conference matches. The Highlanders fall to 1-11 on the year, 0-3 in Big West play.
Whitson committed just two hitting errors in a team-high 36 attempts to pace UC Davis offensively. Junior Melanie Adams added 12 kills and .300 hitting, while sophomore middle blocker Betsy Sedlak hit 7-1-14 with four block assists. Junior outside hitter Kayla Varney recorded another double-double, posting 10 kills and a team-best 12 digs.
For UCR, Kelley Quinn stuck 13 kills against just two errors in a .524 hitting performance. Senior libero Amanda Nilsson chipped in 18 digs and two of her team's seven service aces.
The Aggies struggled to just .067 offensively in their first-set loss, slipping to a 10-7 deficit early on. Whitson's solo block against junior Kelly Simpson evened the tally at 17-17, but UC Davis was unable to take the lead. Shelby LeDuff and Tonbara Youpele knocked down back-to-back kills to push UCR to a 22-19 lead, then Youpele served up the set-winning ace on her next turn behind the baseline.
The Highlanders appeared prime for a 2-0 match lead late in the second set, capturing a 18-16 advantage on a pair of Youpele kills, then holding a 24-22 double set point on senior Dominique Cowling's kill. Sedlak responded with a kill and a block to tie the proceedings at 24-24. She later scored a side-out kill to give the Aggies a 26-25 set point, then teamed up with Adams for the winning block on the next point.
In the third set, the Aggies again had to demonstrate their comeback mettle. UCR setter Brittney Murrey served up two aces in her team's 8-3 opening run, but UC Davis responded with eight unanswered points, mostly behind the jump-serving of redshirt freshman Kaitlyn Plum. Varney had three kills in that stretch, then threw down two more to put the Aggies ahead by a 14-11 margin. The junior left-sider finished with six kills in the third set alone, as UC Davis held its lead en route to a 2-1 match advantage.
Whitson hit 5-for-7 with no errors to help UC Davis to .400 team hitting in the fourth set. Plum and senior setter Carson Lowden each served up 3-0 runs to help turn an 8-8 tie to a commanding 20-12 Aggie lead. Whitson finished the match with two kills and a block assist in the final four points.
In addition to its fourth-set fireworks, UC Davis added .323 and .310 hitting in the second and third frames, respectively. Friday's match marks the first time during the 2009 season that the Aggies lost the opening set but won the match.
Off to its first 3-0 conference start in a 13 years, UC Davis completes its all-UC weekend at No. 24 UC Irvine on Saturday night.
